[Nfbf-l] FW: Bias against blind book lovers by Marc Maurer

[taraprakash]

I wonder, bookshare has received such a huge grant. And they may get more of 
it soon. Why can't they purchase a copy of every book that hits the market?
To add to the below mail, we need to make kindle accessible first before 
jumping in to clash with the authors and publishers' guild.

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "David Anspach" <danspach at tampabay.rr.com>
To: "'NFB of Florida Listserv'" <nfbf-l at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Wednesday, April 15, 2009 8:46 PM
Subject: [Nfbf-l] FW: Bias against blind book lovers by Marc Maurer


> Hello everyone,
> I received this message in my inbox and am forwarding it onto the entire
> list. I have been giving a lot of thought to the entire issue now being
> raised regarding the authors guild and electronic books. On one hand, I am
> all for equal access to electronic books as it means we can access books 
> as
> soon as they are made available electronically. But on the other hand, I'm 
> a
> bit confused as to what exactly it is that we are opposing. I really don't
> want to assume anything as we all know where that can lead <grin>.
>
> If I read the article below correctly, it seems like we, the NFB, are 
> trying
> to tell the authors guild to give us access to electronic books through 
> the
> use of the new Kindle 2(available from Amazon). If this is the case, then 
> I
> think we need to take a step back and look at how we are approaching the
> issue. The Kindle 2 is the most inaccessible device I have ever put my 
> hands
> on. It is clearly designed for the sighted person who wants to read
> electronic books. It has a small screen at the top of the device. 
> Underneath
> the screen are rows and rows of buttons, most of which feel identical to 
> the
> touch. it comes in a really nice leather case that makes it act and feel
> like a real book, albeit a thin one.
>
> If we are saying that we want to be able to use this device to read
> electronic books via its text-to-speech capabilities, then definitely 
> count
> me out. I fail to see any way a blind person can easily, or even 
> marginally,
> use this device without a lot of sighted assistance. Furthermore, has 
> anyone
> actually heard the speech synthesizer used to verbalize the text? From my
> own experience, most text-to-speech capabilities on devices intended for
> sighted users is fair at best. There are certainly exceptions, but in most
> instances, the quality is just not what we have all come to expect in
> applications such as screen readers for both the Windows and mobile phone
> platforms.
>
> Ok, I'm  now going to go ahead and assume something and hopefully not get
> into trouble for doing so <grin>. I think that what we are trying to say 
> is
> that we want access to electronic books without having to jump through any
> hoops such as  a registration process that is meant to prove that we are
> blind, to having to pay extra just so that we can access an e-book with
> speech,  to who knows what else. I fully believe in this as it just isn't
> fair that we should have to do anything extra just to be able to access a
> brand new book as soon as it hits the market, just like our sighted peers.
>
> The only other thing I'm not totally clear on are the actual e-books
> themselves. Electronic books have been around for some time in one format 
> or
> another. In fact, I have some co-workers that have accessed electronic 
> books
> that were in Adobe PDF format.  I also know of the electronic books that 
> can
> be accessed using Microsoft's e-book reader using devices such as the PAC
> Mate. So what makes these books different? Is that the text-to-speech is
> built into the book?
>
> Thanks to anyone who can help clarify this both for me and for any others
> out there as well.
>
> Dave
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/opinion/oped/bal-op.blind14apr14,0,2676842.
> story
>
> Bias against blind book lovers
> By Marc Maurer
> April 14, 2009
>
> I love to read, and I've been doing it ever since I was able. My wife is
> also an avid reader. But my wife and I are blind, and because I lead the
> Baltimore-based
> National Federation of the Blind, we have many blind friends. And although
> many of us read everything we can get our hands on, we can't get our hands
> on
> very much to read.
>
> There are services for us, of course. Government entities and nonprofit
> organizations convert books into Braille, audio, or digital form for our
> use. But
> only 5 percent of all books published undergo such a conversion. A few 
> more
> are available as commercial audio books, but these are often abridged, and
> those that are unabridged are quite expensive.
>
> Nowadays, a solution to the problem of reading material is tantalizingly
> within our reach: the e-book. When Amazon released its new Kindle 2 e-book
> reader
> earlier this year, it announced that the device now includes 
> text-to-speech
> software and can read e-books aloud. Those of us who are blind were filled
> with joy at this news. For the first time in history, it would now be
> possible, we hoped, for the blind to do something that everyone else takes
> for granted:
> purchase a brand new book and start reading it right away.
>
> Our hope quickly turned to despair, however - and then to anger. The 
> Authors
> Guild doesn't want the Kindle 2 to be able to read books aloud. They say
> this
> new capability violates authors' copyrights. This argument has absolutely 
> no
> basis in copyright law. Reading a print book aloud or having it read aloud
> to you in the privacy of your home is not a copyright violation; the only
> difference with the Kindle 2 is that a machine rather than a human being 
> is
> doing
> the reading.
>
> In the face of this specious attack from the Authors Guild, Amazon 
> initially
> took the legally and morally correct position that the text-to-speech
> feature
> of the Kindle 2 did not violate copyright law. But then the company backed
> down, saying it would allow authors and publishers to decide which books
> they
> would permit to be read aloud by the device. Dismayed, we contacted the
> Authors Guild. It claimed it did not oppose having e-books read aloud to 
> the
> blind,
> as long as there was a national registry of blind people who would then be
> allowed to unlock the text-to-speech feature.
>
> This is wrong. The Authors Guild has no right to discriminate against
> disabled readers by segregating us into a separate and unequal class. If 
> our
> sighted
> friends don't have to "sign up" to be permitted to read, then blind people
> shouldn't either. And once we buy a book, how we read it is nobody's
> business
> but ours. When we told the Authors Guild this, they added insult to injury
> by telling us that, if we wouldn't sign up for a registry, we would just
> have
> to pay extra in order to use text-to-speech. Needless to say, this is
> outrageous and reprehensible behavior from an organization of people who
> claim to
> support equal access to literature by all Americans. Instead of 
> facilitating
> the free flow of information, the Authors Guild is making itself the 
> arbiter
> of who is worthy of access to the printed word.
>
> The Authors Guild isn't just discriminating against blind people. People
> with other disabilities - especially brain injuries and conditions like
> dyslexia
> - would also benefit from the ability to have books read aloud to them
> electronically. Groups representing many of these people are joining us to
> protest
> the position of the Authors Guild and Amazon's craven response to it.
>
> At present, very few of us buy books in any form. If we could have e-books
> read aloud to us, however, we would happily pay for them. We are an 
> untapped
> market consisting of some 15 million people to which authors and 
> publishers
> have never before had direct access. For this reason, the position of the
> Authors
> Guild is not only morally repugnant but also bad business. Prohibiting the
> blind and others from reading commercially available e-books just means 
> that
> authors and publishers won't get our money. The guild's position hurts 
> both
> authors and people with print disabilities.
>
> In an age when how we get information is constantly and rapidly changing,
> it's important that people with disabilities have access to it in the same
> way
> that it is important for us to have access to physical structures, goods 
> and
> services. Amazon took an important step in the right direction by 
> including
> a read-aloud feature on the Kindle 2, but the Authors Guild is now trying 
> to
> set us back. We are not going to allow them to stand in the doorway of the
> virtual bookstore to keep us out.
>
> Marc Maurer is president of the National Federation of the Blind. His 
> e-mail
> is
> officeofthepresident at nfb.org.
>
>
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